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ALLEN'S ANECDOTES
Danger Is My Business
In the home inspection business, sometimes an inspector thinks that maybe, just maybe the seller feels a little intimidated by our presence. Such was the case when I was called out to inspect three houses out of four on a farm property on the West side of Peoria, AZ. All three of the houses were fairly small, and the properties were over fifty years old. None of the three had been cared for over the years and their maintenance had been neglected. Two of the houses were built on a concrete slab, but the third house was raised up about four feet off the ground and had a crawl space which was easily accessed because many of the plywood "skirting" panels (the vertical wood installed to seal the space from animals) were loose or missing.
There was plenty of light in the first half of the crawl space because several of the skirting panels had fallen down and were laying on the ground around the house exterior. There was no need to turn on my flashlight until I reached the second half portion of the crawl area. As I looked around for the usual crawl space deficiencies (plumbing leaks, structure support problems, electrical wiring problems, duct-work damage, etc.), I realized that I was not alone in the space. The hair on the back of my neck began to bristle, and something told me that danger was lurking near... Over the years I have encountered many dangers in crawl spaces (rats, spiders, snakes, and "Boobie Traps" of various sorts).
The rear portion of the crawl space was very dark because most of the skirting was in place on the back end of the home. Thirty-five feet into the crawl, I was just about ready to turn on my flash light, when I saw two sets of eyes glowing in the dark...way back in the end of the space. One set of eyes was about three feet off the ground and the other set was about one foot off the ground. Oh my gosh...I wasn't alone!
I backed out of the space without turning on my flashlight. I returned to the main farmhouse where the seller was sweeping his swimming pool in the backyard. I must have looked disheveled, because as I approached him, he nonchalantly mentioned "I probably should have told you about mom and her Mt. Lion cubs in the crawl space."
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When my children were young we had fun making our own egg dyes from blueberries, red onion skins, red cabbage...
